Now here's what I don't get...

It's generally been accepted that Dan was screwed over in favor of Todd. Most people found Dan to be funny and Todd not. (I wasn't one of them, but I understand that the consensus isn't with me on this one.) What I want to know is, why would they lose Dan, and grab Todd?

Dan, as we saw, proved himself to be perfectly capable of being melodramatic after not being picked. If he was that easily agitated (and he did show at least indications of this beforehand), why wouldn't they pick him? Why wouldn't they get rid of, say, Alonzo or John, who've barely gotten any airtime outside of their sets?

And then, why would they pick Todd? The obvious answer is that he's going to cause drama, and it's pretty easy to see that that's going to happen. But then again...

But then again, is this such a smart thing to do? I mean, the guy mugs all the time. Todd is so bad that apparently the producers actually TOLD him to turn it down, and he kept doing it. Such mugging is the thing that cost Geoff Brown pretty much any airtime the first season.

The producers screwed Dan in favor of Todd. And, in my opinion, the producers are pretty dumb.

Maybe they thought Todd and Bonnie would hook up after their kiss.(Yuck) I enjoyed Todd when he was repeating "Keep it Real," on the bus. It was only mildly amusing, but because it annoyed Ant, it made me happy. I didn't think his stand-up was all that bad either.

It's generally been accepted that Dan was screwed over in favor of Todd. Most people found Dan to be funny and Todd not.

I haven't seen a poll--I don't really agree or accept that either of these things are "generally accepted".

One thing I'm keeping in mind is that just because we saw this thing presented in two halves, that doesn't mean it was judged that way. All of the comics performed before any judging was done. We don't even know for sure what order the comics performed in, or even that these "groups" existed before the judging was done. So it's NOT clear, at least to me, that there has to be any direct correspondance between Todd's inclusion and Dan's exclusion.

We know of at least 2 comics who--although Jay Mohr denies it--COULD have received some amount of favortism in the first group. It's just as likely that Gary Gulman or Ant "took" Dan's spot as it is that Glass did. Even if the thing really was split and judged in two distinct groups this is STILL possible, because the groups may have been intentionallty chosen in such a way that the 2nd group was heavier on talent, so that putting Ant and Gulman in group one almost ensured their inclusion, whereas stacking the deck like that made it harder for someone supposedly "on the cusp" like Naturman if they were left in group two after such a manipulation was done.

As far as Todd not being funny? I found him funny. I just also found him irrideemably annoying. My reaction may be shared by millions.

i think that dan and john heffron had the same style and that's what it ulitmately came down to.

You have to remember that Ant took a spot away from Group 1, not Dan, because he was in group 2.

No. That pre-supposes that the groups existed before the winners were announced. Or even if they did that they were judged seperately. And in fact, Jay Mohr's own lame explanations about the judging and how names were tacked up on boards completely eliminates this. They were judged as ONE group, not two.

That's right, Krom...similar to the way AI & CI contestants are grouped when they're down to 100 or so performers and stuck in 3 rooms in bunches of 30-something, and eliminated as a room. So we can't even be sure that Naturman WAS the contentious non-choice of the producers.

All my life, I have felt destiny tugging at my sleeve.~ Thursday NextI don't want to "go with the flow". The flow just washes you down the drain. I want to fight the flow.- Henry RollinsAll this spiritual talk is great and everything...but at the end of the day, there's nothing like a pair of skinny jeans. - Jillian Michaels

I put this idea forth in another thread, but I'll go ahead and suggest it again. The way Naturman reacted when he wasn't selected - refusing to be interviewed, calling the show "stupid" and generally throwing a tantrum that would make my two-year-old proud. I think it's possible that the producers felt that Naturman could be a royal pain in the tail to work with, and thus decided not to select him.

And based on his little hissy-fit, if there's an LCS3, he blew whatever shot he might have had. I think he was funnier than many of the folks that moved on, but I think he behavior was tremendously unprofessional, and he may have hurt his career - in in fact he had asperations of doing television.

I'll be glad when this week's installment of the show airs so we can hopefully get a way from all the "controversy."

BTW, Krom, you have some of the most intelligent, well read arguments I see in the LCS forums.

The show is not about who is funnier it is more about the drama. I know plenty of guys that not as funny as "so and so" and stil seem to get work. This industry is like alot of industries...it is who you know!!!

I am sure Tood G is funny ( I have not seen enough to pass judgement yet) or he would not have been in the biz this long.... i am sure he has connections and that goes a long way.

Ya never know Dan, funny he may be, but he may of dated this girl years ago that he broke up and her brother is frineds with a guy who works in the office with one of the talent scouts for NBC and this guy said not bring DAN on!!

Remeber High School...the politics are the same only the players are different!!

I put this idea forth in another thread, but I'll go ahead and suggest it again. The way Naturman reacted when he wasn't selected - refusing to be interviewed, calling the show "stupid" and generally throwing a tantrum that would make my two-year-old proud. I think it's possible that the producers felt that Naturman could be a royal pain in the tail to work with, and thus decided not to select him.

And based on his little hissy-fit, if there's an LCS3, he blew whatever shot he might have had. I think he was funnier than many of the folks that moved on, but I think he behavior was tremendously unprofessional, and he may have hurt his career - in in fact he had asperations of doing television.

I'm sorry I must have missed this "tantrum" he threw. The only thing I saw was a guy being understandable pissed off at something he deserved to win. He has every right to call the show stupid or whatnot as he was cheated out of winning. And what would the professional way of dealing with someone who is alot less funny than you stealing your limelight? Calmly walking away? No way. He reacted just the way any person would've.

I put this idea forth in another thread, but I'll go ahead and suggest it again. The way Naturman reacted when he wasn't selected - refusing to be interviewed, calling the show "stupid" and generally throwing a tantrum that would make my two-year-old proud. I think it's possible that the producers felt that Naturman could be a royal pain in the tail to work with, and thus decided not to select him.

A few things arguing against that.

-His fit was clearly in reaction to the results. Now unless the producers had a time machine, they couldn't have selected people reactively based on that.
-If they knew, going into that night, that he was pissy, there's only a small window of time for them to have found that out. If it was just based on general reputation, they probably had their chance to dump him at the semi-finals.
-There are also a lot of alternate explanations which make his fit seem less horrible. This is one case where editing clearly cculd have changed perception. We don't even know for sure if that initial reaction from him when he didn't get chosen was in the right context. I think it was a close shot of his face (although I don't have the tape anymore to check).

And based on his little hissy-fit, if there's an LCS3, he blew whatever shot he might have had. I think he was funnier than many of the folks that moved on, but I think he behavior was tremendously unprofessional, and he may have hurt his career - in in fact he had asperations of doing television.

Well, I suppose he blew his Ant-like chance at annoying us two years in a row. :-) But Peter Engel is far from the only game in town, and I doubt he holds enough sway to kill other potential projects--even at NBC.

BTW, Krom, you have some of the most intelligent, well read arguments I see in the LCS forums.